1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to warp knitting machines and, in particular, to machines having a jacquard arrangement.
2. Discussion of the Relevant Art
The invention concerns warp knitting machines for producing patterned goods. This machine has thread guides which are movable by a jacquard arrangement along their longitudinal axis at an acute angle relative to the guide bar carrying them.
In a known warp knitting machine of this type (U.S. Pat. No. 3,099,921) the thread guides having eyelets, are caused to move in a vertical plane. Threads run directly from the eyelet of the guides to the needle bed. Since the eyelet of the guide has a determinable height with respect to the needle bed during the swinging motion of the guide bar, the thread may be placed in a determinable passage between the needles. Unfortunately, it has been observed that many pattern errors occur at this step. These errors increase in proportion to the speed of the machine and the narrowness of the gap between the needles.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,834,193 discloses the use of thread guides which are laterally displaced by interaction with jacquard controlled dropper bars. However, with this technique similar pattern errors also occur.
A further type of warp knitting machines is known (DE-PS No. 1585536) wherein each needle passage is provided with a thread positioning sinker having an angled surface on its leading edge which has the task of laying the threads, which run diagonally in front of the needles, directly into the appropriate needle passage. The threads are led via eyelets in steel bands whose sideward displacement produces the pattern. Unfortunately, the number of patterning possibilities in this mode is limited and may only be increased by the provision of a substantial number of steel bands. It also has been noted that the diagonal portion of the sinker causes substantial damage to the threads by friction, sideward displacement and cutting.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,480,231 further discloses an alternative for the thread guide and is eyelet which avoids running the thread through an S-shaped path. This mode utilitzes thread guiding sinkers in the form of an upwardly open hook wherein the free ends of the hooks are protected by a U-shaped rail.